If you are purchasing drugs over a cell phone, and trying to prevent a mobile phone drug arrest, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You may need to take some fundamental cellular phone security and safety measures because law enforcement has been known to use all evidence at their disposal, even cell phone data.

It manifests frequently– a patrolman just picks your phone up and begins rummaging through your text messages to know who your dealer is. With no interest for your personal confidentiality, many individuals of the police force will just respond to a telephone call or even send out texts to try and create some more offenses and or another drug bust.

Most recently, the Supreme Court has determined that cell phone data is private and the police officers need to get a warrant to search your mobile phone. Anything else remains in direct violation with the united state Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.

“Modern cellphones are not just another technological convenience,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts. “With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans ‘the privacies of life.’ The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought.” For law enforcements who feel they need to have access to a suspect’s device, Roberts had one simple instruction: “Get a warrant.”

Exceptions are in some cases made to constitutional protections. This is due to the severity of the continuous drug war. Most judges will always be on the side of the government. Not all police officers play by the rules. Just because the High court said police must now change the way they do their tasks doesn’t mean they will– or at least not right away. One must also take into consideration that most snitch deals are never prosecuted and a police officer may look at your cell phone anyway just to see who is in your network of friends and colleagues without intending to use the evidence against you.

Warning, first a disclaimer: a warrant and a skilled forensic technologist can find practically anything on your IPhone, IOS, Android device; however, with the right settings/apps/common sense you may be able to make it through most scenarios (i.e. traffic stops and common police encounters) without putting yourself in more difficulty than the initial detention.

So, what is a law-abiding civilian like yourself need to do if a policeman tries to spy on your phone without having a warrant?

Here’s what you need to do:

Deny Consent. If a law enforcement officer begins to search your mobile phone, calmly and agreeably tell the police official that his search is in violation of the Constitution under the court’s Riley decision (Riley v. United States is the name of the court case that triggered this new search warrant rule.) Don’t end there. If apprehended, you should constantly explain to the arresting officer and any nearby eye witness that you do not consent to this search. This helps make sure that there is no doubt or ambiguity about whether you’ve agreed to the search. You don’t wish to be in a situation where there’s any doubt.

If you’re not under arrest– say, you just got pulled over for a blown tail light– then you have absolutely no responsibility to grant a search of your cell phone, your automobile, or your person.

Don’t get unruly. Do not physically resist a policeman or try to literally stop the search. In an arrest situation, you have no power, and you’re just heading to make the situation even worse. If a police officer considers to search your mobile phone even if you did not consent, your best option is to let him or her do this, but keep in mind of who the police officials that are carrying out the search and then consult with a lawyer. This battle can be settled in the courtroom.

Have a password. A security code is the bare minimum you have to keep spying eyes away from your data. It may be a nuisance to log into your cell phone every time you wish to do something, but if you don’t want your family, friends, and nosy police snooping, it’s best to have a password. As examined above, the police officers have no hesitations about reading your SMS messages and setting up your colleagues in a phony drug bust.

Encrypting your phone. Encryption turns your cell phone data into rubbish, making it completely undecipherable. When you power on your cell phone, you’ll need to input the encryption PIN or password, which is the same as your phone’s lock-screen PIN or password. Your phone uses your PIN or password to decrypt your data, making things readable again. If someone doesn’t know the encryption PIN or password, they can’t access your data.

Keep your texts clean. You should be very careful if you get a strange text from someone who you have no idea that brings up drugs. Always think that the source of a suspicious text is the police. If you are not 100% sure who is texting you, do not respond. If you are mostly sure and it’s about something likely illegal, don’t reply. As revealed several times throughout this blog, the authorities can use your friend’s cellular phone to bust you– and they will.

Texting apps with privacy features. There are a number of apps and programs available that will right away delete texts off of the receiver’s smartphone. Texts are forever, and the statute of limitations for drug cases are usually a few years.

Also consider a VPN, which will hide your IP address and keep your online activity a secret. Lots of people want to use them for public Wi-Fi safety, and the added bonus is it will make advertiser tracking more challenging.

The Catch

Despite the strong privacy safety and securities established in the court’s Riley decision, police officers still can search your mobile phone without a warrant in a few cases. These are called “exigent circumstances,” and include the abduction of a child, suspecting a person is in imminent harm, or that there is some impending threat of evidence elimination. Fortunately, those kinds of circumstances should be very rare.

If your rights have been disregarded and you need help, speak to a competent Arizona attorney that has secured a solid track record and who possesses vast experience of how to take care of your constitutional rights.